Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari wishes to turn the country’s national highways electric in the near future. In a conversation with BTTV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi at Business Today’s India@100 Summit, Gadkari, widely regarded as one of the best performers in PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet, talked about the government's infrastructure ambitions, expressway projects, road safety, EV solutions, and more
Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that the government is all set to build an expressway to connect Kashmir to Kanyakumari, which will be built via an access control road. He added that the road infrastructure in India has improved manifold and by the end of next year, Indian road infrastructure will be as good as the US. "Before the end of 2024, our road infrastructure will be equal to US' standard," Gadkari said at the second edition of the BT India@100 Summit
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that PM Narendra Modi has prioritised water, power, transport and communication. Therefore, there has been a focus on building robust infrastructure. Talking about his ministry's plans, he said that the ministry is planning to introduce the built, operate, transfer (BOT) model to freight trucks in a bid to greatly reduce logistics costs in India, which are among the highest in the world
Talking about electric highways in response to a question on road safety from BTTV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi, Gadkari said, "We have just completed a significant amount of work, including a presentation by the Tata Group. We propose to install [overhead] electric cables like the ones on a railway line on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway and the Ring Road in Nagpur.”
Trolleybuses plying between Delhi and Jaipur would be run utilising the cabling and return to Delhi after going around the ring road in Jaipur, Nitin Gadkari said while elaborating, “Since it is the first project of its kind, we are examining the possibility of doing this in the built, operate, transfer (BOT) model.”
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that his ministry was also looking at extending the initiative to freight trucks in a bid to greatly reduce logistics costs in India, which are among the highest in the world. “Presently, our logistics cost is 14-16%. In China it is 9-10% and in most European countries 12%. I am confident of [reducing] it to a single digit to 9% by the end of 2024," he said while adding that this would help boost the economy by making the country’s export market competitive
Expressing his concern at the high incidence of road accidents in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari cited disregard for traffic rules as the main cause behind them. “For the last nine years, we have been trying our level best to improve things, but this has not turned out to be a success story. We have 5 lakh road accidents every year and 1.5 lakh deaths, out of which 60% of the deceased are in the 18-34 age group," informed Gadkari
At the 2nd Business Today India@100 Summit, Nitin Gadkari, in the session titled 'Building Tomorrow's Roads Today', said that the government was already working in key areas such as road and automobile engineering to improve things. The star-rating of automobiles had been initiated while Rs 40,000 crore had been budgeted for removing the blackspots in road engineering
Naming education, emergency and enforcement as the key pillars of road safety, Nitin Gadkari said people must observe simple rules such as avoiding usage of phones, wearing helmets, observing traffic lights and following lane discipline while driving. Gadkari said that the government is devising plans, while stressing that road safety is a lot of personal choices and initiatives. "We are taking all preventive measures of international standards from signage to marking," the minister said at the BT India@100 Summit
Talking about the electric vehicle transition happening in India, Union Minister Gadkari said, "If it is in my hands, I would phase out fuel cars within 5 years. It is difficult but not impossible." The Narendra Modi-led government has set a target of achieving 30 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2030